Computer Science KS4

There are 2 completely different options for students wishing to study Computing or ICT in Year 10 and 11. Cambridge National in Creative iMedia and GCSE Computer Science.

Creative iMedia

The Cambridge National in Creative iMedia equips students with the wide range of knowledge and skills needed to work in the creative digital media sector. They start at pre-production and develop their skills through practical assignments as they create final multimedia products.

There are 3 projects which are written in lessons and form 75% of the final grade – 25% is awarded from an exam.

Projects covered may include Graphics, Video and Animation, depending on areas the classes might select.

GCSE Computer Science from OCR

This GCSE gives you an excellent opportunity to investigate how computers work and how they’re used, and to develop computer programming and problem-solving skills. You’ll also do in-depth research and practical work. For example, some of the current investigations look at JavaScript, encryption and assembly language programming.

What sort of things will I learn?

This three-unit course is designed to give you an in-depth understanding of how computer technology works and a look at what goes on ‘behind the screens’.

You don’t need to have studied this subject before, and assessment is quite simply based on two written exams.

What skills will I get from it?

The course will help you learn about critical thinking, analysis and problem-solving. We hope you’ll find it a fun and interesting way to develop these skills, which can also be transferred to other subjects and even applied in day-to-day life.

The computer systems and programming unit will teach you the theory about a wide range of issues such as hardware and software, the representation of data in computer systems, databases, computer communications and networking, programming and more.

The practical investigation is all about engaging with computing in the real world. You’ll look at a computing topic in more depth and carry out a practical investigation into a computing issue.

The programming project will call on you to design, code and test a solution to three tasks using a suitable programming language.